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PCOO Sec. Sonny Coloma and the IBC 13 management headed by President Lito Ocampo Cruz
September 17, 2014 Secretary Coloma: In the last Wednesday’s Rappler article that IBC-13 will be privatized before President Aquino steps down in 2016 leaving the older sister station, PTV 4, as the government broadcaster, and BC-13 and RPN-9I are both remained to the top. We asked ourselves: “Why now? Why not during the time of sequestration during the administration of his mother?” In history of the network, most of our netizens made excessive praises of Channel 13 during the Marcos administration. Soon after the People Power, the original programming of IBC gradually diminished until the first blocktimer in the 1990s, by Vintage in 1996 and Viva in 2000, recovered the audience retention with PBA until the new millennium and back again with AKTV. And now, the relaunch of original programming for IBC goes on the original production and made excessive praises and claim to the top of the ratings. In 2014, IBC-13 has been turn around to regain its foothold and remained the number 3 in viewership, thanks to the phenomenal fantaseryes like Janella in Wonderland (featuring Janella Salvador) and Voltron Man (featuring AJ Muhlach) that boost the network post a net income of P250 million that year. Recently, the network forged a deal with Engr. Rey Sanchez of Asian Television Content Corporation (ATC) to allocate the primetime block since last June 2. We were happy to have an alternative programs with Hi-5, ONE FC and two Latinovelas The Two Sides of Ana and La Teniente. However, we were disappointed that no disclosure was given during withdrawal of that block after three full months. Presently, the network provided mediacre ratings and financial slump with lackluster and lagging of newer facilities as an implied justification. Your network had nearly-good TV programming during Holy Week and Christmas season to function as a full-time national network. Some of such speculations include low advertising rates, in which, the network settle the burden of the liability of PHP 1.234 billion and a PHP 655.3 million capital deficiency. These evidences of accounts were based according to the recently published audit report in the Commission on Audit for the said government-owned and controlled corporation. With that inability to settle down the long overdue obligations and neglect of investing facilities and its maintenance that bid to compete with commercial networks, last July 28, the same day your master delivered the Fifth State of the Nation Address, a handful of employees of the network marched on to Commonwealth Avenue with the protesters heeding their long overdue remuneration and immediate privatization. We feel good for their redressing their grievances but you did not show the concern which is found on successful commercial channels because the network exercises partial and editorial policy towards the Chief Executive’s viewpoint rather than other branches of government and the common Juan dela Cruz. Needless to say, the privatization process of this network follows the fashioned red tape bureaucracy. With all honesty, we, the undersigned in behalf of the Filipino people, have already made a verdict that we have virtually no audience to appreciate this channel and declare it as a laughingstock — a shame not just for the country’s media industry sector but also for Asia and the world. Forgive the rest of the netizens who issues within this national television industry for their senses are devoutly limited to the three big, successful commercial broadcasters. To conclude this open letter, the network’s management must have three options: * Continue to stick with the status quo programming, * Contact another blocktimer with a win-win situation on financial aspects, or * Continue the reception, the network and the frequency to private bidders.